Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #128 - Things I said in class today

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #128 - Things I said in class today

Hi Mom, I did some cool things in class today, and I want to share. I almost cried. I had to stop talking for almost fifteen seconds to master my emotions.

I was talking about education and its impact. I shared the story of Steve Pitts, who took my Tech Writing course in my brief return to it in Fall of 2003. Inspired by my exhortations, Steve took my Media and the Sexes course, after which he decided to change his major and go into Psychology. Steve went on to work with Miranda Rosenberg as my two TAs the next term and became a close friend. I invited him to my wedding. At the reception, he came up to me and related the story of how and why he changed his major and told me that I changed his life. I will never forget this moment and the emotional impact it had on me to have helped Steve take a new path. As I told my students about it, I got all choked up and had to stop talking for a good ten seconds as I fought back tears and the flood of emotion.

It's things like this that demonstrate why I teach and why I have taught for so long because, you know, it's not the money.

playing magic with
Steve

This is what I wrote to my students following class: I did mean what I said in class about our work together. We’re caught in a feedback loop. So far, you have all been awesome (well, mostly). Let’s hope I am still saying this when I am done grading your papers... :-) ... And your awesomeness has caused me to be more awesome (or at least, I feel more awesome, maybe it’s a trick of the light), and this in turn makes you more awesome, and around it goes.

Or so it seems... Or I just put a little too much scotch in this glass.

Not that I support drinking at all, let alone under aged drinking. But while I am sipping scotch, and on that topic, WARREN ELLIS compared scotch to the dew on angel’s nipples, the word scotch has a different etymology from Gaelic: 

“First off, when we speak of whisky with no E, we speak of single malt Scotch whisky - uisge beatha, the water of life” - Warren Ellis, Twitter, 2008.

There will be more Rules of Chris, such as Rule #1: always have something to read with you at all times. This used to be “a book,” so I bought a copy of Tao te Ching for my man purse. Now, I just carry my Kindle.

On the other subject of things I say in class, I hope it’s clear that gender issues are important to me and that my goal in discussing them is to open up the world to those who need the world opened to them. I come from a place of love. We should all love each other. Accept each other. Yes, we’re different, but we’re all good at the root. That said, the Easter egg as promised is that the passage I will have you summarize for Monday’s quiz (Monday 11/23) is already posted to e-learning in content. The file has the word “quiz” in the title. Doing this thing I have done allows you to familiarize yourself with the passage before class and even write a practice summary. At the very least, read the passage a few times. You’re welcome.

Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.
Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

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- Days ago = 130 days ago


- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1511.11 - 19:15
and finished 1601.01 - 9:08